The Lightning of Konoha
by Heretic-kun
Summary: A new start, new friends and a better understanding, how will Naruto fare in the world of ninjas and giant tailed beasts. Discontinued
1. Chapter 1

A new start, new friends and a better understanding, how will Naruto faire in the world of ninjas and giant tailed beasts.

**Disclaimer:**_**I do not own Naruto**_

**The Beginning**

A little four year old ran through the orphanage, once again he had been denied lunch. It wasn't the first time they'd done that, but it was far better than the times when they got angry at him for doing something wrong.

Little Naruto didn't know why people treated him differently from other children, it wasn't fair for him to be treated that way he thought. Though to him it didn't matter as much, because he had found his own hiding places in the orphanage. Places that only he knew about where he could hide for hours on end and study to become what he wanted most in the whole world, to become a ninja!

He would often spend most of the day in those places, studying what chakra is and the basics of the ninja, of course he couldn't use any techniques or train kunai-throwing techniques. Also taijutsu wasn't really that easy to practice, simply because it sort of required a sparring partner.

But even so he wanted to get the basics down, at the moment he was working on how to mold chakra. Chakra to him was a very mysterious thing, hard to grasp because of not really being a physical object you could touch and feel. Even so the he kept on trying to get it right, so he could one day become a ninja and if possible the strongest ninja in the whole world, so no one would look down on him.

For Naruto just getting by was a feat in itself with the adults looking down on him with faces twisted by hatred, an emotion Naruto, despite his young age, had experienced many times.

On the day of his fifth birthday Naruto was once again practicing how to mold chakra, he was very concentrated and didn't notice that someone else had entered his hideout.

"What are you doing?" the still voice of a young girl asked.

Naruto not having noticed the girl jumped into the air screaming out his shock and surprise. The young girl, Hinata Hyuuga, jumped back in surprise.

Naruto recovered from his initial shock and turned to face the girl.

'Who is this girl, I've never seen her before. Could she be from outside the orphanage?' Naruto thought to himself, while calmly looking at the girl taking in as much detail as possible about her.

Hinata was the first one to break the silence.

"I-I'm s-sorry I s-startled you" Hinata said, hardly audible to Naruto.

"Don't sweat it" Naruto said trying to calm the obviously flustered girl down "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I live here in this orphanage. Who are you?"

"My n-name is Hinata H-Hyuuga" Hinata said while thinking 'I have to be home soon, or else father might get mad'

"It's nice to meet you Hinata-chan, but how did you find this place? I thought it was a secret place only I knew" Naruto replied smiling at Hinata, who didn't seem to hate him unlike the children of the orphanage.

"I-I just found it b-by chance" Hinata replied, before continuing "But what are you doing in here, you seem to be very focused on it"

"I am training to become a ninja, I want to be the strongest ninja that ever lived" Naruto answered with pride and hope evident in his voice.

Hinata knew she had to get home soon, but was afraid to be rude to the boy who like her didn't ever play with other kids 'maybe we have something in common' she thought. Deciding that she really wanted to know why he wasn't playing with the other kids of the orphanage she asked him "Why aren't you playing with the other kids?" Hinata became quite flustered by the snort he let out when he heard her question.

"I-I'm sorry" she stuttered.

Naruto once again had to smile at the girl. Turning to smile at her again he said "there is nothing to apologize for, I just thought you would know why, well since people from outside the orphanage don't really treat me any different than they do here" trying to sound as friendly as possible he continued "but I guess you don't really know me, so I guess you wouldn't know that they call me a monster most of the time, teasing me and all"

Hinata wondered why they would call the nice boy a monster, maybe it was just some joke wanting to know more about him she asked "why do they call you that, it seems like a very mean joke to me" even though she didn't notice the boy's smile had a calming effect on her, unnoticed by both parts she had stopped stuttering during her conversation with Naruto.

"Oh they don't seem to be joking seeing as the grownups seem to be referring to me in a similar way" Naruto said with sadness evident in his voice.

"That's horrible!" Hinata yelled out loud causing Naruto flinch.

"Will you be quiet please, I don't want them to find my hideout" Naruto said almost whispering as to not incur unwanted attention.

"Sorry" Hinata whispered, she then remembered about dinner time and asked "what time is it?"

Naruto looked at the tiny broken wristwatch he had found, "Oh, it's already past six, soon time for dinner then" he said, looking to Hinata who looked like she was really starting to be afraid. "What's the matter Hinata-chan" he said while looking at her with worry. Not receiving an answer he continued "are you afraid of walking home?"

Broken from her spell of fear she replied "N-no I had just promised f-father that I'd be back before six" continuing, still looking very scared and nervous she said "my f-father is going to be s-so mad".

Naruto then smiled at her saying "I'm sure he can't be that mad, after all if you hurry I'm sure you'll only be a little late you might also be able to tell that you were a bit too far away and forgot that you had to use some time to get back too, after all you're only about as old as I am"

"Thanks for the advice Naruto-kun, I hope I'll see you some other day" she said whilst smiling at him. She then turned and crawled out of the hideout, got up and started running towards home. Looking back over her shoulder she could see Naruto standing there waving a bye at her and mouthing a quiet "see you". Happy that she had now found a friend outside the family, that even wanted to be a ninja she thought to herself, I might just have to try and do better during training, then maybe we can both be ninja together.

Naruto had just gotten back into the orphanage when the dinner bells rang, signaling that dinner was now served. Hearing his stomach grumble he thought "about time, I am really hungry" he then went on in to get his humble dinner, which as usually was just the same thing that the other children got, that is if he got anything and they would usually try to make him skip one meal each day where the other children usually had three meals he would be lucky to have three if he were unlucky, Ayame wouldn't be doing any volunteer work there and he would then only get 1 meal that day. At least he never did go a whole day without food, and some of the trees bore leaves that in spring were edible, and not poisonous.

Hinata only came once a week after her first visit, but Naruto was still happy, not only did he have a friend now, but one who wanted to be a ninja, just like him. Only Hinata didn't wish to be the strongest ninja, just so strong that she could help her friends when they needed her.

Despite seeming very shy at first Hinata warmed up to Naruto and they got along very well, sometimes they'd go somewhere outside the orphanage to spar, but most of the time they just played different games and talked about the world and being a ninja.

The year passed quickly this way, Naruto was making quite a bit progress in chakra training seeing as he now could mold chakra without the need to do any annoying hand-signs, even though he couldn't use any jutsu's yet this was, unbeknownst to Naruto, quite a feat for one his age. He had found though that with his chakra he could make leaves wrinkle, but only if he put in a lot of chakra and it would usually tire him out doing so.

Naruto who were now almost six years old, were making good progress with his chakra training. By now he figured that he was so good that maybe he could try learning a jutsu, but that is where his next problem showed up. He didn't know get his hands on any scrolls containing ninjutsu, they weren't allowed to go to the Library of Konoha, let alone the ninjutsu section of the library. The older kids who were now in the ninja-academy could probably get their hands on them, but he was very certain that they wouldn't get him any, not even the simplest jutsu. Though he thought to himself if there was some jutsu that made him disappear completely, he was pretty certain the grown-ups would pass it to him.

Wondering where to get his hands on a ninjutsu scroll he thought of Hinata, maybe she could help him. From what she'd told him she was from a very influential ninja-clan, she could probably waltz right into the ninjutsu section of the library. But then again he didn't want her to get in trouble if anyone found out that she had given the scroll to him.

Debating with himself in silence in the hideout he never heard Hinata as she snuck up upon him from behind and screamed "Boo!" Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin and had as a reaction to the 'attack' jumped away from her hitting the wall.

"What did you do that for" Naruto yelled angry, mostly because he was still slightly startled "I thought my heart was going to exit through my skull" looked at Hinata who was just rolling on the floor laughing at his reaction. Quickly gaining her senses she said whilst having trouble breathing "I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun but you should've seen yourself"

"And they call me the monster" Naruto said while also beginning to laugh, mostly because of the fact that he could not remain angry at Hinata and imagining what he looked like that moment. It took them a few minutes before they had calmed down enough to have a proper conversation.

"Um, Hinata it isn't Sunday, you usually only come here on Sundays. So what's up any exciting news?" Naruto asked with a hopeful expression on his face.

"Do I need an excuse to visit my best friend" Hinata replied and started to pout, causing Naruto to burst into laughter again, having not really calmed down properly yet. Still laughing slightly Naruto said "no of course not" while smiling at her.

"Say Hinata-chan, do you know any ninjutsu yet?" Naruto asked, figuring it would be easier to just learn one from Hinata.

"No I don't know any jutsus yet, most children don't even know what chakra is before they start the academy" Hinata replied grinning at her friend for his ignorance in such common matters, deciding to tease him a bit "you stay too much in your little hideout, just like a cave-monster!"

Naruto laughed a little at the monster joke but was baffled by the fact that other children didn't know about it, let alone know any jutsus. Laughing slightly he said "maybe you're right, since I didn't even know that, I think I might just need that academy, maybe they teach common sense"

Hinata was having a hard time not bursting into laughter at the academy joke then she remembered why she had come there, "Hey Naruto-kun look at my birthday present" she said holding up a plush-doll that looked like a little puppy. Naruto gaped at the doll "what a cute and soft thing, almost like a squishy pillow" then looking to Hinata he said "is it common for children to get birthday presents?"

Smiling sadly at his friend Hinata said "Yes it is, at least for children outside the orphanage, I'm not sure whether or not they can afford to give you presents in here" continuing, before the sad look that had conquered her friend's face started to make her sad too, she said "But do you know what Naruto-kun I'll give you a birthday present on your birthday, because you are my very special friend"

Smiling brightly Naruto said "really!"

"Yes of course Naruto-kun" Hinata said with a smile on her lips, finally her friend was cheery again just the way she preferred he'd be like.

Naruto started to think for a second and then asked "Shouldn't I be giving you a present too then?"

"You don't have to, it's up to yourself and a present can be anything, just as long as you have your heart in it, that's at least what my mother used to tell me" Hinata said smiling at her friend.

"A present of the heart" Naruto said thoughtfully while thinking 'what should I give her' "Hinata-chan what would a present of the heart be like, please I need a hint" Naruto said smiling at Hinata attempting to hide the fact that he had no idea what to give her.

"Well Naruto-kun a present, can be almost anything, a particularly beautiful rock, something you know that person would like. That for instance could be something on a wish list made by that person or something they have talked a lot about owning but haven't gotten yet" Hinata said giggling slightly at his bad attempt to seem like he was merely interested because of curiosity.

"So Hinata-chan anything particular you'd like as a birthday gift from me" Naruto asked smiling at her.

Hinata smiled while thinking for a little while and then said "I would really like you to teach me how to mold chakra, I'm really not that good at it"

Naruto smiled for a second then grinned. "Of course I'll teach you how to mold chakra, by the way want to see something funny I can do with chakra" Hinata thought to herself 'what other things can chakra be used for than jutsus. I don't know any other uses at least' "Hmm sure" Hinata said after checking Naruto's little wristwatch, to make sure she would be back in time for her birthday dinner. She kind of regretted that she couldn't invite Naruto over, but her mother had said that because of some of the elders and a few other members of the main branch certainly being against it, neither her father nor mother had any say in the matter.

Meanwhile Naruto had gone outside to grab a couple of big leaves, and he now went into the hideout again. Sitting down next to Hinata he put the leaves aside, keeping only the biggest of them. "Hinata-chan look at this" Naruto said, and when Hinata looked at the leaf he pushed in as much chakra as he could, causing the leaf to wrinkle and fold together until it was just similar to a

paper-ball, which the older kids would usually throw into to trashcans to see who could get most 'points'

"Amazing" was all Hinata could say, she had no idea that one could do that with chakra.

"It can be done with paper as well" Naruto said smiling at Hinata. Naruto quickly took a quick peek at the wristwatch, noticing that it was about ten minutes to six he said "Think you have to get going Hinata-chan, it's almost six and you wouldn't want to miss your birthday dinner now would you"

Hinata still in a bit of a trance said "Naruto-kun you will teach me how to do that too right?"

"Of course Hinata-chan, but first you have to be good at molding chakra, very good even, which I'm more than certain you will become" Naruto said smiling broadly like he usually did.

"Say Naruto-kun can we work on molding chakra every time I come here" Hinata asked silently.

"Sure we can" Naruto replied "now you have to go or else you might be late"

"See you tomorrow Naruto-kun" Hinata said smiling as she ran towards the Hyuuga Mansion.

"See you Hinata-chan" Naruto yelled at her retreating figure.

**Two Years Later**

Two years had passed since Naruto had agreed to teach Hinata how to mold chakra, she had quickly picked up on the subject. Now having learned how to mold it she had been practicing a bit of the Jyuuken, the gentle fist style of martial arts, taught to the Hyuuga whose byakugan revealed the tenketsu essential for causing any real damage with the style.

Naruto and Hinata were now looking forward to the day they could enter the Ninja Academy of Konohagakure. The duo had been studying the chakra system, because a scroll Naruto had "borrowed" from the library had said that basic understanding where the best way to become the best. The "borrowed" scroll claimed that, if one knows the basics and understand how to implement them, even the simplest technique could become deadly.

So they practiced the basics, they had to attend the academy for at least two years before being able to take the genin exam, that much they understood. So they figured that they had plenty of time to work on ninjutsu when they entered the academy. Also Naruto had heard that children from the orphanage, who entered the academy, were allowed to move into an apartment instead, to be localized closer to the academy. He had actually been encouraged by the adults of the orphanage to do this. They really seemed to want him out of there, because they didn't encourage any of the other children the same way.

Now, only a few days to the start of the academy year, we find Naruto at his hideout accompanied by Hinata, both studying the functions of the chakra system. Naruto focusing more on implementations of the knowledge in some of the ninja techniques he had read about. To him controlling which area of the body he could let the power of the techniques loose had a great amount of appeal to it. Hinata though were reading through how the chakra system affected health, by all means some heavy stuff. Both Hinata and Naruto were using the dictionary a lot.

"Say Naruto-kun, do you know when you'll move away from the orphanage?" Hinata suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I am moving in tomorrow, the old Hokage geezer said they had to clean the place a bit and put in some furniture as well" Naruto replied, hardly even lifting his gaze from the scroll.

"Oh okay, so soon, do you know where you're going to live?" Asked Hinata, hoping it wouldn't be too far away.

"Not exactly sure where it is, but the old man said something about it being on the outskirts of the shopping districts, close to the Hyuuga grounds and not too far from the Academy" He replied all the while smiling at her while appreciating that he have such a good friend to rely on.

"So Naruto-kun my mother asked me, to ask you if you want to celebrate our enrollment into the Shinobi Program of Konoha. Just you, me and my mother and father, and possibly my sister as well" Hinata said.

"Yeah sure, it could be fun I've only ever met your family once, they seem to be some very nice people" Naruto said all the while wearing a broad smile on his face.

The next day came along too slow if you asked Naruto, he was much too anxious he had woken several times that night, feeling as if something had just been staring at him, and then there was that whispering voice In the back of his mind. The voice uttered words, he couldn't discern what it said but he could hear it well enough to know it spoke sentences. He shrugged it off every time as it seemed to start to fade when he woke up. Once that night however the feeling that someone was staring at him lingered, even though he was awake.

Naruto got out of bed that morning, and started to pack his stuff, a few personal belongings mostly presents from Hinata and her family. Naruto remembered the first time he had met her family, it was in the small forest area that was situated between the orphanage and the Hyuuga estate. He had really surprised Hiashi Hyuuga by showing him his little leaf trick, as he had come to call it. Hiashi had actually thanked him that day, for teaching his daughter how to mold chakra, as he had been too busy to do it himself. Hinata's mother looked a lot like her, despite not being a ninja she radiated unwavering confidence, but also warmth. Naruto thought that she was probably the exact opposite of the stoic Hiashi.

From what Hiashi had told him, it appeared that he had a lot of chakra, especially for one his age, according to the Head of the Hyuuga clan he could rival some chuunin. Also he had told Naruto that his chakra control was lacking in several fields, as such he wasn't really using his chakra efficiently. Also Hiashi had told him that looking at the leaf he probably had lightning elemental affinity, and if that was the case it would be much easier for him to use lightning techniques than any other elemental techniques. All in all it had been an interesting encounter.

Naruto having found his personal belongings headed for the front entrance of the orphanage, where the old man had told him to meet up at 9.30 so he could escort him to his new apartment, as well as show him some things he might need to know to be able to live there alone. When he got out of the main building, he could see the old Hokage Sarutobi waiting at the gates for him. He always did enjoy Sarutobi's company, he was a bit like the grandfather he didn't have.

"Good to see you Naruto" Sarutobi said greeting Naruto with a warm smile, then continuing to add "Hope you have had a good night's sleep, we have quite a bit of walking to do, and I understand you are attending a little party with the Hyuugas tonight"

"Yep, Hinata and I are going to celebrate our enrollment into the Academy" Naruto replied smiling at the old man.

"Good, now first we need to go see your new apartment, then I'll show you where you can buy the things you need as well as the fastest road to the academy" Said Sarutobi, who then brought out his pipe and lit it.

In Naruto's opinion the trip to his new apartment wasn't that bad. Of course people were staring at him with hatred again, but hey nothing he hadn't tried before. The apartment building looked a bit old, but was otherwise in good shape, and his apartment was situated on the first floor. A nice little place, with two rooms as well as a bathroom and a nice little balcony with overview of the street. He especially liked the balcony, because of the building being situated a little higher than the rest of the city, the view was rather spectacular, depending on which way one looked it was either the great Konoha forest, or the busy shopping district.

"It's quite a view from here, don't you think?" Sarutobi asked, noticing the wondrous look in Naruto's eyes.

"Sure is, can't wait to show this to Hinata" Naruto answered with excitement evident in his voice.

"Well as you can see, the apartment have its own kitchen and bathroom, the kitchen being connected with the living room, and behind this door next to the entrance is the bedroom. As you can see we have made sure to get you a comfortable bed to sleep in as well as all the tools you need for cooking." Said the Sarutobi, while blowing out a small stream of pipe-smoke before continuing "Though I think it's best if you get someone to teach you how to cook before trying it out yourself, as you might get injured or light the place on fire if you don't know what you're doing, the Ichiraku ramen stand close to this place serve a brilliant ramen, at least according to what I hear"

"That sounds great, I love ramen" Naruto said with a big grin on his face.

"I hope that I don't have to remind you that ramen alone won't cut it if you want to stay healthy" Sarutobi said in a serious tone then adding "If you want to become a good ninja you'll have to get certain amounts of protein and vitamins, otherwise your body will deteriorate"

"Yes sir" Naruto replied while giving a mock salute, causing Sarutobi to laugh lightly.

Before the duo headed out for the tour around town, Naruto left his belongings in the bedroom, and upon leaving locked the door.

The time flew by quickly as Naruto were shown around town, they visited almost every type of shop in the shopping district. Unbeknownst to Naruto, they only visited the stores that were owned friends of Sarutobi, who had some idea about concept of sealing, so they understood that he couldn't be the fox itself, but just a container. As such these store owners really didn't look down upon him or anything, which didn't go unnoticed by Naruto who in particular had enjoyed visiting the ramen stand for dinner. Some stores were a bit more expensive than the others of their kind, but at least they wouldn't tell Naruto off or ask more money for the wares he bought. The stores also generally were selling high quality wares, most of them receiving orders for clothes or other supplies from the Sarutobi clan for several decades, some of them even for half a century. Some of these stores were also very reliant on the orders from the Sarutobi clan that even though being a small clan, had pretty high needs when it came to ninja equipment and clothing.

A few hours later their tour was nearing its end, Naruto knew where to get almost everything, Ayame Ichiraku had even promised to teach him how to cook a bit. All in all it had been a good day, and a fun tour. Naruto were getting hungry again, due to the exercise, even though he wasn't in bad shape, he hadn't had that much to eat that day. Now making his way to his new home where he had agreed to meet Hinata and her family. When he came home he unlocked the door and went to change into the new set of clothes the Hokage had gotten for him, it was a set of clothes primarily oriented towards the career of the ninja. The set consisted of a pair of black shorts, a grey t-shirt as well as a black jacket with pockets for scrolls. The Hokage had also given him a shuriken and a kunai holster, which were designed to be strapped around the thigh so they were easily accessible during combat. To match the set he had even bought a pair of ninja sandals, which were also black. Naruto himself had protested a bit to all the black, seeing as his favorite color is orange. The Hokage had then explained to him that orange really wasn't that great a color if one wanted to be a great ninja. Flashy colors attracted unwanted attention, though he said it could make his enemy underestimate him and thus giving him an edge, in most situations it would simply be too impractical and just make him a human target dummy.

Naruto couldn't wait to show Hinata his new outfit, it actually made him look much more like those jounin who had greeted the Hokage when he passed by, some of which Sarutobi had said where most elite ninja and one in particular a white haired man named Hatake Kakashi who supposedly was the best the city had to offer. Naruto had seen his book though and his first and final judgment of the man was that he is a pervert. Reading adult-only books in open public, Naruto might have limited experience with society, but he was pretty certain that that was frowned upon. Other than that the man had seemed to be nice enough, and had offered to help him out a bit with training if he had the time for it. He was all dressed up, except for the holsters, he had left those on his bed, he figured he wouldn't need those that evening. A few minutes later the doorbell rung, Hinata and her family had arrived.

Later that evening Naruto was at home, after a nice evening with dinner, and lots of laughter, Naruto never knew that a stoic man like Hiashi could be so funny when introduced to a little alcohol. Of course his wife got a little embarrassed and angry about it, and Hinata had certainly been embarrassed. Naruto could tell by the color of her face, he had never seen her that red. Man, he just had to see what the old hokage was like when he is drunk. With the thoughts of a very good evening among good friends he fell asleep, but not before brushing his teeth, like he had promised Hinata's mother.

Three days later, the academy school year began.

**That's ****it for chapter 1!**

**Didn't get to introduce my little OC, but I will include him in next chapter, though maybe only a little bit.**

**Tell me what you think (also about the length is it particularly good or bad in any way then I would like to know)**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed it, until next time!**

**And thanks to my beta Akabara-sama**

**Heretic-kun**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of the Lightning of Konoha, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **_**I do not own Naruto, wouldn't mind though.**_

The year at the academy had started, today was a big day for many of the children of Konohagakure. But for some, namely the citizens of Konoha and even more so most of the parents whose children were joining or already attending the academy, the day were not as good as it could have been. The cause for this being the subject of their utmost hate, Uzumaki Naruto, the container of the nine-tailed fox also joined the academy.

Speaking of Naruto, he was now making his way to the academy, along with his very best but luckily not his only friend, Hinata Hyuuga. The duo had spent most of their lives waiting for this very day, the day when they could enter the academy and ultimately be a big step closer to becoming shinobi.

"Say Hinata, do you think the academy will teach us some jutsus?" Naruto inquired, while walking with his hands behind his head, enjoying the gentle feel of the soft breeze and the touch of the early morning sun.

"I believe they will, but I'm not sure which, and certainly I have my doubts that they are going to be very powerful. Take my cousin Neji for example, he still focuses mainly on the Jyuuken I haven't even heard him mention any of the jutsu he's learning at the academy" Hinata answered, trying to ignore the looks of hatred coming from the villagers.

"Hmm, but Neji is very good at Jyuuken, at least as far as I understand, I mean it's your family's style and it is considered the ultimate form of taijutsu" Naruto pointed out, before continuing to add "maybe he considers the jutsus they learn in the academy obsolete because of his superior taijutsu style. Though I don't hope so, because like one of those scrolls we read said 'overreliance on a certain skill, will most certainly be the death of a ninja, because his combat style will be too easily seen through and countered. A ninja must be fluid like water when it comes to combat, constantly adjusting to the situation' and that rings true with me, a jounin would probably be able to work out 2001a countermeasure rather quickly."

"My father said, that that's why the main house developed so many different ways to use Jyuuken, for example the ultimate defensive move of the main house, kaiten, should be able to block most jutsu easily, of course depending on your skill and the amount of chakra you use" Hinata replied.

The two would often discuss pros and cons of jutsus and combat styles with each other. The discussions were hardly ever conclusive, but they found it to be a good way to learn of jutsus and more specifically how to counter them, in case they ever needed the knowledge. Other than that they noticed that, once they discussed what they had read, it would often be easier to remember on later occasions. To them this seemed the best way of working through the theoretic part of ninja training. When it came to learning things by trying them, Naruto seemed a little better at it, since he would hardly ever get tired. This was because Naruto had tremendous amounts chakra and stamina, and his chakra control wasn't half bad either, though it still wasn't top notch, it was still pretty good for his age.

As they kept discussing the jutsus they in their opinion were most likely going to learn in the academy, they slowly made their way to the academy.

As the duo came closer to the academy they noticed two of their friends, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame, standing at the entrance waiting for them to arrive. Naruto had first met the two strange boys, during one of their training sessions in the forest area between the Hyuuga estate and the orphanage. Back then he had been grossed out to find out that Shino had bugs living inside his body, but as he got to know the boy it stopped bothering him. Though one thing he never thought he was going to grow accustomed to was the fact that Kiba smelled a lot like a dog. Naruto believed that he had a lot better sense of smell than most people. He would sometimes smell things others couldn't, also things that smelled bad, seemed to bother him much more. Naruto never could come up with an explanation as to why that was the case, so he just chose to attempt to live with it, though at times it would be almost unbearable.

Kiba had long ago noticed that a lot of the villagers of Konoha seemed to hate Naruto. He had no clue as to why that was the case, but it was like that, not that it bothered him that much when he spent time with Naruto. After all why ruin the fun with speculations he could never find an answer to. As for Hinata, she was always at Naruto's side, taking his side in every fight he had ever gotten into with Naruto. But Kiba enjoyed spending time with the two of them, though they hardly ever wanted to do something without the other one participating. They were a lot of fun to hang around, especially when Naruto were in a mischievous mood. From time to time he would think up the most devilish pranks that even jounins sometimes were victims of.

Shino got to know Naruto and Hinata at the same time as Kiba, and though he wouldn't say it, spending time with the three of them were a lot of fun. Even once in a while Naruto would even make him laugh, something no one else were capable of. Often the cause of his fits of laughter would be one of the famous pranks Naruto would indulge in when he was either mad at someone, for some reason and thought that they were in need of a little payback, or simply were bored, the worst of the two were surprisingly the ones that occurred as a result of boredom. Shino thought that Konoha was lucky that Naruto were pretty good at occupying himself or else, he thought, the whole town would probably be in a state of chaos and paranoia.

"Hey you two, ready for the big day?" Naruto asked his two friends, while wearing his characteristic smile.

"Me and Akamaru are more than ready, we trained a little extra last night in case they wanted to test us in some way, to decide what sort of things we are ready to learn" replied Kiba while Akamaru barked loudly as to say that he too was excited.

"How about you Shino-kun" Hinata said as she turned to the quiet Aburame.

"I'm ready" Shino answered with his usual calm expression.

"So Naruto are you ready to become the best shinobi in the whole world" Kiba asked with a smile full of confidence.

"Wouldn't that be wonderful, but I'm certain it's going to take a lot more than just making it through the academy to become the best, even so I'm going to do my best and reach that goal as soon as possible" Naruto replied before adding "But we're really going to have to get going to the classroom Kiba, I really don't want to be late on the first day, bad first impressions limits the possibilities for pranks should it prove to be too boring"

"Heh I hope it will be worth our time, if nothing else I will look to you to provide some entertainment" Kiba said, as the group made their way to their classroom, where they were going to spend a lot of time the next four years before becoming genin, official shinobi of Konohagakure.

When they entered the room, they found that a lot of the other children, their new classmates, had yet to arrive. The group took up some seats at the back of class, where they could sit close enough to each other to allow discussion and help each other during class if needed. When seated Naruto and Hinata started discussing jutsus once again, with Shino listening in on the conversation and adding a few comments of his own every once in a while. Kiba finding the topic a bit boring decided to see if he knew who some of their new classmates were.

The first one he noticed was Sasuke Uchiha, the son of the head of the Uchiha clan. Kiba had met him a few times when he was walking through the town, and Sasuke had even taught Kiba a bit about throwing kunai and shuriken, which Sasuke had learned from his brother. In Kiba's opinion Sasuke was a decent guy, though a little bit arrogant and too self-centered at times. Kiba's sister had told him once, that all Uchiha were at least a bit arrogant, primarily because of their prized kekkei genkai, the sharingan, not all Uchiha possessed the powerful doujutsu. Kiba had no understanding as to why not everyone in the Uchiha clan possessed the sharingan.

As Kiba moved his eye around the class he noticed other sons and daughters of clan heads were present, it was a special class this year he thought, most of the clan heads of the village didn't seem to hate Naruto. Especially the Hyuuga clan and Nara clan seemed almost friendly to him, even with the uptight attitude most Hyuuga had, he knew they liked Naruto. Also the Nara clan head Shikaku Nara seemed to treat Naruto nicely, though as most Nara he too was very lazy and it was hard for Kiba to make out whether or not he liked him or not he seemed to treat him with the same respect as he showed Kiba or Hinata.

The Nara clan head's son were also a part of their class, Shikamaru Nara was his name if Kiba remembered correctly. He was actually very uncertain about his name, because he hated to hang around the Nara, he was way too dull for Kiba's tastes. Even so he knew one thing for a fact, and that was that the Nara was a good friend of Chouji Akimichi, the son of the Akimichi clan head. Kiba knew were little about the Akimichi clan, other than the fact that all their members seemed to be obese to say the least. The last person he recognized was Ino Yamanaka, he remembered her because of the fact that she was daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka, who he knew was an important member of the Konohagakure torture and interrogation force.

While Kiba were lost in thought, the last few students arrived and the classroom quickly became filled with noise.

A few minutes after everyone had arrived someone opened the door, his name was Iruka Umino and he was going to be the chuunin who taught them the basics and theory as well as supervising their training guiding the many young minds on the right path towards becoming shinobi of Konohagakure. The moment he entered the room everyone became silent, except for one. Naruto in the back of the class had still not finished discussing the Jyuuken with Hinata, and though they were only talking, once the class became silent, it was pretty evident that they were talking.

After clearing his throat, Iruka looked sternly at the duo sitting in the back and said "Now class haven't started yet, but I will say this anyway, just so I don't have to say it at a later time, you're expected to quiet down and shift your attention to me when I enter the classroom. That way we can start class earlier, learn things much easier and maybe sometimes get to go home a bit earlier"

"Yes Iruka-sensei" the class replied in unison.

Before starting class Iruka did a name calling, to make sure everyone was present and accounted for. He also informed the students how the layout of the academy grounds was, as well as when they could expect to have breaks and when they finished each day.

"Now let's get started with class, today I'll inform you what we're supposed to cover this year. Furthermore later today after the lunch-break, we will assess your current skill levels, strength and speed." Iruka said then continued to add "Any questions?

Naruto raised his hand and asked "exactly how are you going to measure our abilities"

"Well first and foremost we will have a written test. Then we will go outside to test your precision with thrown weapons, then see how fast you can run and then before we finish today, we instructors will assess your taijutsu skills through a light spar." Iruka replied, smiling at his student, glad to see that Naruto paid attention to what he said. Iruka then said "Anymore questions?"

Iruka who noticed that no one seemed to have further questions, decided to start explaining to them the layout of the year. First they were going to start out, by making sure everyone had a basic understanding of chakra. Everyday would also contain physical exercise, Iruka told them that "while jutsus are important to a ninja, without a good physique they would easily tire and that could lead to their demise."

"Physical exercise will of course cover taijutsu as well. Once we have a good grip of chakra we will move on to simple control exercises, as well as ninja history lessons. These lessons will cover many of the jutsu you could encounter once you become chuunin or jounin, which I'm sure you will all be some day. Once we have established enough chakra control we will move on to teaching all the things you need to know and learn before you perform jutsu. The last things we will cover during the first year will be the henge, a simple jutsu with many great possibilities, but more about that when we get to that point." Iruka finished, before sending them all off to a in his opinion well deserved break. Iruka thought that he was very lucky with the class he had gotten that year, they were very calm and collected.

Naruto, Kiba, Hinata and Shino moved to the roof of the building to eat their lunch the very moment Iruka had announced the lunch-break. Hinata's mother Asami Hyuuga had made lunchboxes for both Hinata and Naruto, she cared much for the both of them and had been worried for Naruto's health once he was going to be living on his own, and had insisted on at least making sure he got a good healthy lunch.

Naruto enjoyed spending time with Hinata and her family, they were very gentle people, even her father who at times could seem very intimidating. It seemed that Hinata's mother were the center of this, whenever she was around everyone in the compound seemed a bit happier. Asami Hyuuga was a distant relative of the Senju-clan, and the marriage of Asami and Hiashi Hyuuga had been an arranged marriage. Even so love had developed between Hiashi and Asami as they got to know each other while growing up. Asami with her gentle spirit had changed the uptight Hyuuga-clan, she herself had personally made sure that Neji never were to be branded with a curse mark. All in all she had been the breath of fresh air the Hyuuga needed, while the main branch still kept a lot of their uptight attitude in public, most of the tension between the main and branch houses were relieved over the years.

The four friends were now seated on the flat roof of the Konoha Ninja Academy, enjoying their lunch.

"Sounds like it's going to be a bit boring, doesn't it Hinata" Naruto said with a small amount of disappointment present in his voice.

"I don't know, maybe those exercises might help a bit, but nonetheless it's something we have to go through before being allowed to graduate as genin" Hinata replied before adding "Though I thought that we would learn a bit more than just one jutsu"

"I agree. It might be really hard not to follow the lead of the Shikamaru Nara, who's probably just going to sleep through the whole thing" Kiba said with a sigh.

"Yeah, it's funny that Iruka chose to just ignore him. I mean if it were anyone else, I'm pretty sure they would've gotten scolded for not paying attention" Naruto said with a laugh.

"I've heard that his father, Shikaku Nara, was exactly the same way when he attended the academy" Kiba said before adding "Apparently in this case the saying, like father like son, really applies. Though his father is the jounin commander"

"Well one shouldn't underestimate anyone, they might just be keeping up an act. Maybe he's a very powerful ninja already, but decides to hide it to make any potential opponents underestimate him" Hinata offered.

Just then the bell rung and they had to hurry to the classroom if they didn't want to miss the written test.

**Later same day**

The day had been rough for Naruto, he had decided to give it his all during the testing of their capabilities. This had resulted in Naruto actually realizing just how much his aim sucked. His speed though had been above average, he had even bested Kiba by a bit. None of those things had lead to his current state. No that was because of the sparring, he had gotten quite a few bruises during his 'friendly' spar with the academy instructor Mizuki, and he would swear that he had been just a bit rougher with him than with the other students.

The paper test had been fairly okay, Iruka had told them that they didn't need to worry about the test, because they were only being tested to see in which areas they lacked practice and which areas they excelled at. The test had been about basic stuff, mostly the things they were supposed to cover that year. While he couldn't answer all questions, he figured just knowing what he knew would place him at above average. He believed that was the case because of the fact that there were quite a few children of civilian families there as well, who most likely had no idea about any of the subjects of the test.

Naruto decided to eat ramen at the Ichiraku Ramen Stand again, he loved the place, the owners and other customers at the Ramen Stand were nice to him, most of the customers were retired ninja, who have had enough of war and killing and had settled for a fairly early retirement, at least if one compared them to the old hokage. One of these retired ninja was an old raiton specialist, who was very happy that Naruto had turned out to have elemental affinity for lightning. The old man by the name Raiden, had even promised to teach him a jutsu or two when he were a bit older.

After finishing his ramen and saying his thanks to the owner Teuchi Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame, he went straight to his apartment. Got into his pajamas, brushed his teeth like Asami had told him to, then locked the front door and went straight to bed.

Later that night Naruto woke, drenched in sweat. He had experienced another nightmare, but this one he remembered. The nightmare started out with him walking slowly down the streets of Konoha, people were smiling, hardly noticing his presence, he was certain that even a few of them had smiled at him. Then the nightmare changed pace, people starting running, and he had to flee into an alley if he hadn't, he would've certainly been stomped to death by the stampede of the obviously panicked people. After the panicked people had all ran past him, he looked out around the corner, to see what they were fleeing from, what he saw was unlike anything he had ever seen before. In the middle of the road he saw it, a giant blazing skeleton that floated in the middle of the air and encircling it was a ring of cracked gory bones. Inside the ring of bones, barely visible behind the skeleton where a triangle made of bones that was also cracked and gory. It was after seeing this that Naruto woke up, he felt like someone was watching him again, and then he heard the voice again. The same voice that he had heard whisper sentences in the back of his head. This time though he could actually discern a single word, it said one thing "Kill."

Naruto got out of bed, but still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He went to the bathroom and splashed a little water on his face. This seemed to help a bit because after a few moments the feeling of being watched disappeared, with that feeling gone left was only the dread. Naruto went back to bed, but not before turning on the small lamp in his bedroom. After a few minutes Naruto drifted away into a now dreamless sleep.

**Six months later**

The first half of the academy year had passed fast, currently they were on vacation and academy was closed for a small winter break. The always high-spirited Naruto were silent, he was looking back at an event and a meeting that happened three weeks earlier, before the academy closed for the fairly short winter break. That day several weeks ago had been a bad one, Naruto had been teased by most of the other students, despite the fact that he was pretty good at the things they were taught in the academy, most of the teachers looked at him with eyes full of hate. Naruto were not even a single step closer to find out why that was the case, why most people in Konoha seemed to hate him. Though things might seem unbearable at times, he had his friends at his side. It also helped a bit, focusing his attention on the academy material during class, he wanted to become the best, and he knew that that would require a lot of hard work.

That day though he had been a bit unlucky, first that morning he fell face first into a pool of mud while on his way to the academy, he had been pretty certain that somebody tripped him, but didn't know who. Then as he had arrived for class, he found out that both Hinata and Shino were absent that day due to sickness and even Kiba had to stay home because Akamaru also had caught something. While he thought that the day would be a bit boring without his friends, he was certain that it would work out just fine, that was until they were handed back the test they had been given the week before. Naruto had totally flunked the test, not even making a passing grade, another kid in Naruto's class by the name of Hibachi had seen this and yelled "ha! Have you seen this, the monster is stupid as well." Naruto knew that Hibachi hated his guts, from the very second they first saw each other, Hibachi's parents hated Naruto and so did Hibachi.

Most of the class had started laughing at him after Hibachi had yelled out loud. Naruto had ignored them, and just focused on figuring out why his test where so full of errors, he had been very careful when filling out the sheet. Then while looking over his sheet he looked up and noticed Shikamaru's test. Shikamaru had filled out question number one with the same answer that he did, but Shikamaru's were marked as correct while his own were marked as incorrect. Deciding not to stay quiet about that and just accept that kind of unfair treatment, Naruto raised his hand.

"Yes, do you have a question Naruto" Mizuki asked.

"Mizuki-sensei, there seems to be a problem with my test, question number one is marked as incorrect, but I noticed that on Shikamaru's paper it is marked as correct. Do you think you could look it over again?" Naruto pleaded, while silently hoping that it was just a mistake and not a new manifestation of some of the teachers' hate for him.

"Let me see" Mizuki said, while taking the paper out of Naruto's hand, quickly scanned over the questions on the first page, he said with a serious tone "This must be some mistake, some are actually correct, while marked as incorrect, I'll correct this myself and then discuss this with the teachers later"

"Thank you Mizuki-sensei" Naruto said while smiling at him. 'Sometimes even Mizuki can be nice, and he's gradually been treating me a lot better since first time we met' Naruto thought.

"Nice played, stupid monster, but I'm certain that he will find that apart from those one or two questions that were marked wrongly as incorrect, the rest will still be just as incorrect" Hibachi whispered, before moving back to his seat.

Naruto really hated that boy's guts, he was mean to Naruto and his friends, for no apparent reason. He called them names, and was under the impression that Naruto was the dumbest being alive. Most of the time he was easy to ignore, mostly because he only said the same things over and over again, but even a broken record player gets annoying if it's not turned off, and today that record player had annoyed Naruto a bit too much.

Suddenly without warning and without thinking, Naruto got up and pushed Hibachi so hard, that he fell. Hibachi fell and hit the chair and the one sitting beside him, they both ended up in a heap. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Naruto heard somebody laugh, but he ignored it, he was too angry to even notice. As the two got up, they looked at Naruto angrily, before jumping at him and attempting to punch him in the face. Naruto dodged the first punch from Hibachi, but not the one from Hibachi's friend, who hit him square in the mouth, busting his lip. Before Naruto even got the chance to retaliate, Mizuki intervened, he moved lightning fast in between his students. Mizuki caught Naruto's fist with one hand and grabbed the arms of the other two with the other.

"No fighting during class, if I ever catch any of you starting a fight during class again I'll have you expelled" Mizuki yelled angrily at his students before continuing "all three of you, go home now, considers this the first and only warning."

"Yes Mizuki-sensei" Naruto, Hibachi and Hibachi's friend mumbled, before moving towards the door.

Once outside the door, Naruto made sure to get home as fast as possible, he was certain that Hibachi would want to finish what he started, and he was also certain, that he couldn't take them on alone. Two against one wasn't fair, nor were the odds in his favor. As Naruto made his way home, he came across a small necklace. The necklace appeared to have been thrown on the street, it was covered in mud, and barely even visible. Naruto reached out to pick up the necklace, when something hit his side hard enough to cause him to fall over, face first into the mud. Just his luck, two times on the same day he had landed face first in the mud.

Naruto quickly got up again after hearing someone mumble something about not noticing him. The one who had knocked him over had already moved on, not even bothered to offer him a hand. Naruto picked up the necklace, and wiped some of the mud off it using his sleeve. The necklace was formed like a symbol that Naruto knew a little too well. The necklace was shaped like the symbol he had seen in his recurring nightmares, the burning skeleton in front of the circle with the triangle inside.

Naruto stared at it for a little while, thinking about what to do with it. Maybe the old-man hokage knew something about the symbol, he decided that asking Sarutobi about it was the best course of action, but just as he was about to put it in his pocket and head for home, someone grabbed the arm holding the necklace.

"What is it you're stealing monster" a cruel voice asked, and Naruto turned his face to look at the one who had grabbed his arm, it was Hibachi's father, a jounin of Konohagakure.

"I didn't steal anything, I found it in the mud" Naruto snapped back at Hibachi's father.

"Hah, like I'll believe that, other people in this village might think that you're just like other children your age, but I know better, you're not fooling me Monster!" Hibachi's father spat, before ripping the necklace out of Naruto's hand, before continuing to add. "Now I'll take you to the Uchiha police, I'll let them take care of a little thief like you"

Naruto was in despair he had heard that the Uchiha were very violent, and took every crime personal, also Naruto knew that they wouldn't hesitate to call for the torture and interrogation squad. Just as he thought that there was no way out a voice interrupted their struggle.

"Oh you found my pendant, can I have it back please?" the stranger questioned, as he flipped the hood of his cloak back.

The stranger was rather tall, at least for a person not appearing to originate from Kumo, he was about six and a half feet tall. His hair that had been almost obscured by the hood was white and fell over his eyes, the hair in the back and sides were shoulder length. The heavy cloak that he wore, that more than just covered his body. Naruto believed that the cloak was spacious enough to hide another person under it. The cloak was rather simple other than size, with sleeves positioned in such a way that most of the excess space was on the back. Naruto knew from his talks with Hiashi that such cloaks generally were made for puppeteer ninja who wanted to hide their dolls from enemy eyes. The parts of his skin that were still visible were very pale, and witnessed the fact that the man avoided the sunlight whenever he could, maybe because of some old habit.

"How do I know this pendant is yours it appears to be the insignia of some mad cult" Hibachi's father queried.

"Well it is the insignia of the Jashin cult, I am Jash a former member of the Jashinist High Priests, so yes that pendant belongs to me." Jash said in a cold and even tone and continued to add. "And before you refer to children as monsters, you should look at yourself first, your career choice demands being a monster"

"Hah, isn't that grand, a Jashinist High Priest calling me a monster" Hibachi's father laughed almost manically.

"Yeah that is something different isn't it" Jash said while smirking at Hibachi's father. He then turned his gaze to Naruto who felt as if his very being were being pierced by Jash's black eyes. Something about the eyes just made him feel like those nights when he had those nightmares, the feeling that someone was observing him intently.

"Are you the one who found the pendant?" Jash asked.

"Um, yes I am, it was lying here in the mud" Naruto replied, his voice shaking a little, he really didn't enjoy the gaze of the Jashinist High Priest

"Thanks, but if he hadn't grabbed you what would you have done with it?" Jash queried.

"I would've taken it to the Hokage, I've seen that symbol in some nightmares, he knows a lot so I was going to ask him about it" Naruto replied, his voice still shaking. Something about Jash was not right, he could feel that in his gut, and he was convinced that the rather sweet odor that was coming from him was the smell of blood.

"Thanks for telling the truth, you are much nicer than this idiot here seems to think" Jash whispered to Naruto, this time actually smiling.

"Most people around here think ill of me" Naruto whispered back, with a sad smile.

"Figured as much, people like that guy generally go with the flow, they don't really have much brains only brawns, much like most of the other Jashinists" Jash whispered, before turning his attention to Hibachi's father who were still laughing, that is until he met Jash's gaze.

"Can I have my pendant back now?" Jash said coldly, there were no trace of the smile he had flashed just seconds ago, left was only the cold gaze of a hardened killer.

"I-its evidence, for the case, he is obviously lying" Hibachi's father replied.

"That is only in your eyes, and how are you going to make a case if the owner of the item doesn't report it stolen" Jash replied before adding "Not a single jounin in this village could steal something from me unless I want them to, let alone a kid, no matter how cunning he may be."

"You're right, we don't have any case, this time!" Hibachi's father replied, and handed the pendant over to Jash, who hung it around his neck. Before he left, Hibachi's father added "I'll get you next time fox brat"

As Hibachi's father left, the two could hear him mumbling curses. Then when he was out of sight Jash turned to Naruto again, this time smiling as well. "I would like to thank you for finding my pendant, it is a remnant of a past that I certainly don't want to forget" Jash said "Perhaps I can offer you dinner, my treat of course, then I can tell you about the cult and this symbol if you want to know anymore than which cult uses the symbol"

"Um, okay, you mind if we go to my favorite ramen stand, it's one of the only places that will serve me anything" Naruto replied with a growling stomach.

"Sure I enjoy ramen, once in a while at least" Jash replied, and started to follow Naruto who were already on his way to the ramen stand.

A couple of minutes later they arrived at the Ichiraku Ramen Stand, they both got a seat and Ayame handed them both the menus, a moment after they had ordered their ramen Raiden entered the stand. Raiden too sat down, at the other side of Naruto and ordered his ramen. He then turned to Naruto and Jash and said "It's rare to see you with a stranger Naruto"

"Yeah but he's rather nice, he's paying for my ramen, as a reward for finding his pendant" Naruto said. "His name is Jash, and he is a former Jashinist High Priest"

To say that Raiden was surprised by this was mildly put an understatement, normally one does not quit being a Jashinist. Raiden had heard that Jashinists priests were so devoted that death couldn't even stop them. They would rise again and again, and no matter how many times they got their heads cut off they would still return. But even so leaving the cult once you had joined was an impossible accomplishment, all members of the cult would hunt that member down and destroy them. There were no stopping them, and people who don't even fear death itself cannot be scared off with raw strength or cunning.

"How did you get away from that cult, there is no way they would just let you go!" Raiden almost yelled, before adding "Those zombie-monsters are way too fanatical about their god to allow such a thing."

"That answer is simple, they are not immortal at all times and there are several ways to kill them" Jash replied. "I left the cult during a period of vulnerability, carved my way through the other followers, it was so amusing to see the terror in their eyes when they realized that their beloved Jashin had abandoned them"

Both Naruto and Raiden were shocked by his statement, usually cult members were as good as family, but Jash had simply butchered the whole lot of them, because some unknown disagreement. They might have been hostile towards him but he probably went overboard with it. Raiden knew for a fact that self-restraint wasn't a trait that was praised amongst the Jashinists, instead they were encouraged to let loose and destroy as much as possible.

Jash's expression changed back to his gentle happy expression extreme quickly. "You know sometimes memories are overwhelming, I left the cult because of I've had too much of the bloodshed, it is a past I can never totally throw away, the bestial madness is still buried somewhere in my mind. At times I am afraid that it is going to resurface, and wreak havoc again." Jash said sighing loudly at the end.

"Hah, kid I know that feeling all too well, sometimes I miss that tingling feeling of a life-death situation" Raiden said, laughing lightly before continuing in a much more serious tone "But the one thing I don't miss is the look on my enemy's face just before he is struck by my techniques, at times that expression freeze at the time of death, it is the most terrifying thing to look into, because one must realize that, that could as well have been yourself"

"I guess I'm not the only one who feels this way, huh" Jash replied with a tired voice.

"No not even close, most ninja retire solely because of this reason, others become insane and focus all of their will and power into attaining some twisted perfect world" Raiden said, before turning to Naruto "But you don't have to worry about that, boy, just stay out of hunter-nin squads, and this fate is a bit farther away from you."

"Don't worry about that you old geezer, I'm not going to end up in your situation" Naruto said while grinning at the retired ninja, who were now angry because of the geezer remark. "Unlike a lot of my classmates, I know that a ninja will be required to kill other people, maybe even those they hold dear, but I will do my best to not just kill every single person who gets in my way, I want to help those who are kind and deserve my help, and destroy those who do evil to others, especially if they think that higher social status gives them the right to judge others. That is my way of the ninja!"

"Well thanks for your time, and thanks once again for finding my pendant, I figure we'll be meeting each other again sometime" Jash said after he had paid their bills, then he proceeded to walk off down the street towards the Main Gate of Konoha.

Naruto thought to himself that, that day hadn't been that bad after all, he got to meet Jash, a 'retired' Jashinist High Priest. Who despite his previous religious belief, were very friendly and had seen past whatever prejudice the villagers had towards Naruto.

**A few weeks later**

The vacation had passed rather quickly, Naruto had spent most of his time training and playing with his friends. He had even convinced Raiden to teach him one of the basic exercises for lightning element techniques. The exercise involved getting a feel for the basic attributes of electricity, which involved resistance of the elements, Raiden explained that the most powerful lightning techniques acted the same as lightning and followed their examples.

Currently Naruto was practicing on getting a feel for how the water in Konoha conducted lightning. He was practicing by discharging large amount of chakra, which he himself described as 'jumpy' chakra, into a bucket filled with water from the river. This was done to protect others from the risk of shock, but also to make the training more contained and have fewer variables.

The academy for Naruto was the same as always, they hardly taught him something that Hiashi hadn't already taught them when they were younger. Hiashi rigorously believed that teaching them in the way of the ninja was more important than playing, and that they should start early if they wanted to become something. If it wasn't for Asami's interference he would continue to train them, far longer than what was actually good for them.

As Naruto sat around and practiced using his 'jumpy' chakra, he heard a subtle rustle behind his back. As he turned he was greeted by Hinata and her mother Asami who had come out to check up on him. They did this when he were training because they both cared deeply for Naruto, and they knew him well enough to know that he could be so focused on getting a jutsu right, that he could seriously harm himself by just training.

"Hi Naruto-kun" Hinata greeted him and waved, as they walked into the cleared. The clearing was rather large, and at the other end the Konoha River was located, for easy access to water.

"Hi Hinata and Asami-chan" Naruto said, as he let the small charge of chakra he had accumulated in his hand dissolve into the atmosphere. The chakra dissolving made a small snapping sound, and then there were no other traces left of it.

"What are you practicing this time?" Asami asked Naruto.

"I'm learning to understand the nature of lightning, so I can use the knowledge and experience in my training to become a ninja, and to better control the power of the jutsu I am planning to have Raiden teach me" Naruto replied while smiling brightly, like he usually did when he was learning something that could bring him closer to his goal.

"Isn't that dangerous? Especially if you have no one to supervise you, I thought that at least Raiden should know better than to let you do that." Said Asami seemingly frustrated by the apparent ignorance of men.

"Well, he started out by being here, but I kept asking questions about the training and then about forty minutes ago he got a bit too annoyed by it and told me to empty the bucket and go home to get some rest, and instead continue tomorrow. Before he left, he told me that this training did not allow pointers otherwise there could be some things I had no actual feeling for, and as such could make mistakes because of the fact that I only knew the theories." Naruto said quickly, so that Asami wouldn't get upset and go after the old man, who had once told Naruto that 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'. Raiden had told that Naruto that it meant that one should not upset a woman, because they could be far more dangerous than men. Raiden had also said that Naruto would probably understand it much better once he got a bit older. To make sure there were no misunderstandings he added "After he left I waited a bit and started training again, I really want to get this right soon."

"That is so like you, thinking of the result before thinking the process through, at times Hiashi and you are dangerously alike" Asami said and sighed, before bringing a smile to her lips and adding "At least your luck haven't left you let."

"It is not luck, it is skill" Naruto boasted and smiled broadly again.

Hinata just listened to the exchange while laughing slightly at Naruto's antics. She had known him for quite a while and he was always like this, especially when someone were to insinuate that he was more lucky than skilled. He would react to even the smallest insinuation, the retort could be rather aggressive at times, depending on the person who made the insinuation. When it was one of his friends or Hinata and her family, his retort would be joking, but if it was a teacher he would often teach them a lesson by making complicated traps.

"So Naruto have you made any particularly interesting discoveries through your training" Hinata asked.

"Um, it's hard to say really, it is more like a feeling than actual knowledge. Like when I look at the spark I get the feeling I know where it will jump at any given moment, but it changes constantly, it is sort of fun to attempt to predict where it will jump to, and then letting it go." Naruto replied, sounding very thoughtful as he went about describing the experience.

"So the goal is to be able to innately tell where lightning is supposed to strike, just by feeling?" Hinata asked, hoping that it wasn't something as extreme as that.

"Actually Raiden said that, that is exactly what true perfection of the lightning element means, but that it is a S-level ninja skill, and not something I should work on perfecting before becoming a jounin, he told me that just making it through half the training would be more than what most capable chuunin would be able to accomplish." Naruto replied, sounding proud of whatever he had accomplished so far.

"So do you know how far you have progressed in the training?" Asami questioned, wanting a proper explanation for his dangerous enthusiasm.

"Raiden said that I am at three percent completed, that is about halfway through the first exercise he said" Naruto said, he was rather pleased with himself for making it that far "I've made it that far in a few weeks only, and he says that even the first exercise is at least mid-chuunin level."

"Amazing Naruto-kun" Hinata said expressing her awe. "Did Raiden tell you something about other affinities, what learning about them entailed?"

"No he didn't, he insisted I should focus on lightning primarily at least until I was at about ninety percent completion" Naruto answered in an apologetic manner, he hated not being able to help Hinata. "Raiden insisted that thinking about other elements were totally unnecessary"

"Honey if you want someone to teach you about your affinity for water, you could just have asked me or your dad, while your dad believes in only using Jyuuken, he know that I am very proficient with water techniques. So I if you want me to I can help you." Asami said smiling gently at her daughter. She then added "We can train here by the river as well, that way I can look after you as well Naruto, though I can't guide or help you with your training."

The two nine-year olds looked at each other for a second before turning their attention to Asami and answered "that would be great, please help us with our affinity training"

From that day onward, Asami Hyuuga helped her daughter and her very best friend train so that the two of them could become powerful shinobi of Konoha. The training went on like that, and the more time she spent with the two of them the better she came to like Naruto. After all, the tiny boy had a lot of charm, despite the harshness of his upbringing, he always wore a smile, and at least as long as he was with them it was genuine. It warmed her heart to know that she was helping the unfortunate boy, attain a normal life, well at least normal for a citizen of Konoha.

About two months later, as they were walking home from the training grounds, something happened that would change their lives forever. They had just finished another day of training to master their elemental affinities, they had even tried combining the two, because the water and lightning jutsu could complement each other and thus adding a dimension of teamwork into the mix. Asami had wanted to train them to help each other, and protect each other, but for that to work neither part could be weak, or they would become the first target priority for the enemy, which in the end could work against whatever plans and traps they had prepared in advance.

As the trio walked home they talked about their training, what went well, what went wrong and so on, they were simply attempting to go through whatever experiences they had gained, through their elemental training, as well as the jutsu they had learned during the Academy lessons. As they turned around the last corner, someone caught their eyes, there in the middle of the street stood a man, he gave off a weird and terrifying aura. The aura even affected Asami, who visibly shuddered.

The trio stopped, they could see the man clearly where they stood. He wore black pants with ninja wrappings around the shins and black shinobi sandals. His chest was bare, but his shoulders and most of his face were covered by a piece of black cloth bound around the neck. What really stood out was his left eye, it was black completely except for a small white dot in the middle. He stood with his back turned, facing away from them, with one hand on the huge tri-bladed scythe on his back. He stood there, and he looked back at them, he had seen them. Just as they thought it couldn't get any scarier, he spoke, his voice dead, cold and void of any emotion.

"Have any of you seen him?" the stranger said. "If you haven't I'll have to kill you all"

"Run you two run, get help, I'll hold him back" Asami whispered, to the two children. "Get the Anbu or someone at their level of skill over here quickly, I am not certain for how long I can hold him back."

Hinata and Naruto knew it was serious, they could tell that the man wasn't joking, not even close, he was more likely to slaughter the entire city than letting anyone, without the information he needed, live. They had no other choice but to do as Asami had told them to do, run.

"Please be safe mom" Hinata gently whispered, before she and Naruto ran towards the Hokage Tower, which were the closest building with Anbu on watch.

Naruto and Hinata arrived at the Hokage Tower both panting heavily from the strain, they had ran as fast as they could all the way to the tower, the two Anbu guards at the entrance didn't bother with them, to them they just like two children who had raced each other to the Hokage Tower, surprisingly it happened quite often.

"There's a weird man to the south where we came from, he is very dangerous and he is attacking Hinata's mom." Naruto yelled at the two guards once he had caught his breath.

The two guards just looked at each other and then laughed. "Naruto it is not like we're going to fall for that, were Anbu, not some random Chuunin you can easily fool with your pranks, now please go somewhere else to play, we don't have time for this we have to make sure no one sneaks into the tower."

Just as the Anbu finished the sentence, a loud explosion rocked the entire district, the blast could be felt all the way to the tower and made the windows rattle. The Anbu just looked stunned, then as the truth settled in the Anbu quickly reacted and moved into action. The first one informed his comrade that he would inform the Hokage of the cause behind the disturbance, and get reinforcements. Then his comrade would go to the explosion site and help out Asami Hyuuga. Both left quickly, left in front of the tower were only Hinata and Naruto, both were crying, fearing for the safety of the Hyuuga matriarch.

The Hokages secretary came out and escorted the two children inside, so they could stay there until the whole ordeal was over. To say that the two children were scared would be an understatement, they could still feel the ground shake and hear the explosions in the distance. For the two of them it took far too long, each minute felt like hours, they were just sitting there inside the Hokage Tower, at the lowest level, waiting, for news that the stranger had been driven back or killed.

After just about ten minutes the ground stopped shaking, and the sounds stopped, Konoha was back to its normal self, peaceful and quiet, especially for a hidden village. They waited a little while longer before they got up from the couch that stood in the corner of the lobby, they went over to the windows, and looked outside. They could tell that someone had used a fire technique, at least at some point, because the smoke were black and thick, snaking its way slowly towards the red evening sky, like it was trying to grab the last light of the sun before choking it completely.

Minutes later the old Hokage entered the building, to Naruto he seemed even older than when he left. His face had soot stains in several places, and his eyes looked tired. Naruto could tell that the old man had been fighting as well, because he didn't wear his usual white and red robe, with the big hat. Instead the Hokage was wearing his battle garb, his robe was slung over his arm, it was torn in some places, whether it had been from the battle or from the quick change of clothes Naruto couldn't tell, but he didn't like it.

"Hokage-sama where is my mom?" Hinata asked, her voice almost failing her, Naruto could tell that she was on the verge of crying again.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed heavily as he turned, to the children his heart was failing him. This was impossible to explain to a child her age, he didn't know how to explain it, and even if he did, he couldn't bring himself to explain it to the two of them, the life in the Hyuuga mansion were harsh on all members, and Naruto had only a few who actually cared for them, the family head, his wife and daughters were some of these select few, it would probably be just as hard on him. He decided not to tell the entire truth, for the time being at least, he needed information now.

"Your mother has been rushed to the hospital Hinata, unfortunately I have no idea of her condition but she got hurt during the battle, the Anbu taking her there will probably have more information." Sarutobi replied and sighed again, he could tell that the girl was rather upset, and it certainly did not help her one bit that he had told her that her mother was in the hospital, trying to calm her down, he kneeled in front of the little girl, now at eye-level he looked her in the eyes, he smiled at her and said "I am sure that she's okay Hinata, just a small wound or a broken arm maybe, I don't know yet, but I know that your mother is strong, she'll make it through for your sake. I have arranged for Cat to escort the two of you to your respective homes, your father probably knows more than I do, after all even a smart old guy like me can't know everything.

"O-okay, thanks for telling me" Hinata said, all the while sobbing a bit, Naruto could tell she wasn't going to cry now, he hated when she cried, because it made him feel like he failed her. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, only that it did and that he liked it much better when she was smiling, it made him smile as well.

A few minutes later Cat arrived to take them both home, she was a bit sad, Naruto had talked to the Cat-masked Anbu several times, and understood her well enough to tell that. He didn't mention it to Hinata though, but he had a stinging feeling that everything didn't turn out so well as the Hokage made it seem like. While he wanted his notion to be completely wrong, he really couldn't shake the feeling that everything was going to change, and unfortunately it wasn't for the better.

The next morning Naruto woke to the sound of his alarm clock, Cat had told him that he wasn't going to the academy that day, none of them were, and he shouldn't leave his apartment. At least until the man responsible for last night's attack had been apprehended, something told Naruto that the stranger with the scythe wasn't going to be caught, and that he had already left the village, but it didn't matter much to him, he didn't feel like attending the academy that day, his dreams had been haunted by different nightmares. Once again he had dreamt of the burning skeleton inside the triangle and the circle, but this time something was different, this time he didn't wake up and he ran away from the skeleton, straight into another nightmare. This nightmare had been somewhat worse, he had seen what looked like a giant fox but then it had disappeared and was replaced only by a menacing red eye, he could see the blood vessels of the eye, and they were at least as thick as his arm. He had attempted to escape the eye, but it had been on his tail immediately, caught up to him a few seconds later, he had then been swallowed by it and had fallen straight into the next nightmare, which involved the man with the tri-bladed scythe. At last he had woken up, drenched in sweat and shaking with fear, he was certain that no matter what he never wanted to meet that man again.

Later that day Naruto received word from the main house of the Hyuuga clan that Asami had passed away, during the night, her wounds had been too deep and she had lost too much blood. Naruto just nodded as the branch member relayed the information to him, he could tell that the branch member had been crying, Asami had been the single most bright light in all of the Hyuuga clan, and now with that light snuffed out, the clan was left with a feeling of emptiness and sadness. Naruto didn't really know what to say or do, it was just unreal to him, he hoped that he was still just trapped inside one of his nightmares, once the branch member left, he had tried looking around for the burning skeleton, or even the menacing red eye, he wouldn't even mind if the man with the scythe jumped out of the drawers, just anything to prove that it was just a bad dream, and that he would wake up to the sound of little Hanabi laughing outside his door, before the whole family would knock on the door and ask if he wanted to come to the park and play.

But it was no bad dream, Asami was gone, forever gone, and he could tell, he had known in his gut that everything was changing, this was just the first step of the change, soon he felt, more would follow, other tragedies, other lives snatched away in a swift motion by the hand of fate. Naruto didn't feel like doing anything, he went out to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, after all that's what he'd promised to do, and then he went to bed, for the simple reason that there was nothing else he felt like doing. As he laid down on the bed, he hugged his pillow and started to cry, he wept for a while until he drifted into sleep once again, he dreamt of the good times he had, had with the Hyuuga family, but the dreams all ended in the same way, the stranger with the scythe attacking, Asami dying, and Hinata and Hanabi crying.

Asami's funeral was held two days later, the whole village was still in shock. The culprit had been identified as a jashinist priest, though he had yet to be captured. Naruto and Raiden had been brought in for questioning about the jashinist high priest they had eaten dinner with several weeks ago. It had only been a short questioning, because Naruto could easily tell that Jash wasn't the one who attacked them. Unfortunately Naruto couldn't rule out the fact that Jash might be wrapped up in the case in some way or another, and he hated himself for that, but he hadn't really told Jash that many things, even though he knew it was illogical, he blamed himself for what had happened. Hinata hadn't attended the academy since her mother died, and Naruto was isolating himself from others, as a way to deal with his guilt and the sorrow he felt.

Kiba had tried to cheer him up a few times, it had not helped in the least, Naruto had just moved even further away from him. Even though Kiba was a sad as well, he had a hard time dealing with the otherwise always happy Naruto being sad, when he wasn't smiling it was as if something was missing in the classroom. Iruka also noticed how sad Naruto seemed to be, he paid little to no attention to his class, even though he would usually listen intently.

It took a little more than a week for Hinata to return to the academy, she was sad as well, obviously even more so than Naruto. The two just sat quietly in their seats all day staring absently at the blackboard, even when they were practicing jutsu, which the two excelled at and usually spend a lot of focus on, they just did what was required, and no more than that. Kiba had never tried losing a family member, but he understood why Naruto and Hinata was sad all the time, even though in his opinion they were a bit too sad for him to deal with, Kiba ended up just ignoring the two of them, simply because he had no idea what to say or do to help them.

Later that day when Naruto and Hinata sat by themselves outside underneath a tree, eating lunch together, they had hardly talked to each other since the day, now two weeks ago. To Naruto it seemed like the happy days where he would train his elemental affinity under the supervision of Asami, were several lifetimes ago, but one question he had been thought about a long time ago, popped into his mind once again. He wanted to ask the old Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, about the jashinist cult, he needed to know why a person would do such a thing. He had discerned from Raiden and Jash' discussion a long time ago, that the jashinists tended to be violent, but why they were violent, and how a cult like that came into existence, those were questions for which he wanted an answer, he needed it otherwise, he was certain that he would drive himself insane with guilt and sorrow. Maybe it could relieve some of the guilt or maybe it could at least put the questions to rest. He didn't know, but he figured he had to ask to find out.

"Um, Hinata" Naruto said softly. "I am going to the Hokage Tower today after academy finishes, I am going to ask the old geezer about the jashinist cult."

"And you would like to know if I wanted to come along or something like that" Hinata replied, she knew Naruto well, he was concerned about her, but she could tell he was also feeling guilty for her mother's death. While it saddened her that her mom was gone, she didn't cry anymore, most of the time it just seemed surreal, but one thing was certain she hated to see her very best friend in such a state. "If that is the case I want to come along, I want to know about them as well, so I can deal with them if I ever cross their path again."

"You are not going to go on some sort of vendetta are you?" Naruto asked, he had thought about it himself a few times, to avenge Asami's death, but he had shot the idea down really fast, there was no way in hell he would be able to last even three seconds against that jashinist.

"No, I just want to know, I don't want another person I love to die at their hand, so I figure the best way to prevent that is by knowing how to deal with them." Hinata replied, her answer well thought through and well formulated as ever, for eight year olds they had a very big vocabulary and good mannerism as well, the old retired ninja around town seemed to enjoy that they were well spoken and generally behaved better than the other kids.

"Okay, I will ask Iruka-sensei to call for Cat, she can escort us over there, I'm sure your father wouldn't want you to travel without protection right now, not even inside Konoha." Naruto replied, he knew that Hiashi could be very overprotective of his daughters at times. After all Asami had said that a few times.

They had arranged for a meeting with the Hokage scheduled to when academy had finished for the day, it had been surprisingly easy, but considering the fact that the Hokage thought of children as the most important treasure of the village, it maybe wasn't as surprising to Naruto as it could have been. Cat had escorted them to the Hokage after they finished their day at the academy, she had been awfully quiet, but they knew for a fact that Cat had been a good friend of Hinata's mother so it was no wonder.

When they arrived at the Hokages office, he was expecting them, he had left the room where he spent most of the day dealing out missions to the newly appointed genin and other ninja teams, and was waiting for them in his private office.

"Hello Naruto and Hinata, it's good to see the two of you again, I understand that you have some questions for me." Hiruzen said, as he greeted the two and motioned for the two to have a seat in the two chairs in front of his desk.

"Thanks for your time Hokage-sama, the things we are going to ask questions about are primarily related to the cult of Jashin, I hope you can answer the questions, because it's been bothering me for a long time" Naruto replied, trying to hide the desperation in his voice.

"I see, your involvement with the jashinist high priest have left you with a ton of questions, because according to you he was rather nice, very unlike the jashinist that attacked two weeks ago. Am I right about that?" Hiruzen asked, thought clouding his eyes, Naruto was certain that something was bothering the old man.

"Yes, why are they so different, I mean I understand that Jash left the cult, but why are they so very different, and then again they aren't it's hard for me to understand, and thinking about it is driving me nuts" Naruto replied, before continuing "I've also had these weird dreams, for a long time now, it's more like a nightmare, but it contains the symbol that Jash necklace fashioned, a skeleton encircled by a bony triangle and a circle around the triangle, I wanted to ask you about it a long time ago, but then I found Jash' amulet and met him. I found out what it was, but I still have no idea what it symbolizes, I mean, I understand that it is the symbol of their god, but where exactly does it come from, and what is that god like, I want to know."

Sarutobi sighed, and rubbed his temples, this was most disturbing he had not heard anything about a jashinist wearing the original symbol since the last ninja war, even then they had been few and far in between, the jashinist cult had shrunk drastically in size between the first and second ninja war, and it was almost gone when the third war started, but then suddenly they had blossomed once again, showing up on battlefields, wreaking as much havoc as they possibly could. It troubled him that one who had been devoted enough to wear the original symbol had shown up in Konoha even though he was supposedly rather friendly, and only haunted by spirits of the past.

"This is going to take a long time to explain, it's no new cult, they have existed far longer than most think, and their god, well he is the worst part of the cult, because he is by my knowledge the only god to actually interfere with our world directly, delivering punishment to whomever he wanted, granting his followers immortality and speaking directly to cult members through the shrine they made, the shrine have been burned down long ago, but they say nothing grows there and that if you go there you would never return." Sarutobi replied, his face looked to be haunted by old ghosts, unbeknownst to most citizens and ninja of the village, he had clashed blades with jashinists several times. Sarutobi sighed once again, thinking he was becoming too old for this job before he continued his explanation. "The jashinists serve their god Jashin, whose symbol you already have described, the new symbol they wear is just the triangle inside the circle, the triangle is supposed to point downwards, but I have seen it pointed upwards as well, it wary greatly depending on the member. Nowadays followers are far in between and some aren't really followers of Jashin, but simply insane people who bring about as much destruction they can, while wearing the symbol for some odd reason."

The old Hokage paused for breath for a minute, thinking back to remember all the details he knew about the rather secretive cult. He then continued to speak once again. "The god Jashin is the deity of pain and suffering, his ultimate purpose is supposedly ultimate pain, and more than anything causing it. In the beginning he had many followers, they wanted his ultimate power, but then the sage of the six paths came along, I trust you have heard a bit about him during your ninja history class, he freed the world of the primary cause of pain back then, he captured the ten tailed beast, and later when he was to die he divided it into nine separate beasts, who could be controlled through the power of the ninja techniques that he taught us. The sage used the beasts power to destroy most of the cult, and the number of new followers dropped drastically. The cult back then went into hiding, they actually disappeared for more than fifty years before resurfacing."

The Hokage stopped again, he felt like he was being watched, and he could tell from where and who it was. "Please enter Itachi, I know you are waiting outside the door so you can relay information about your mission to me." Hiruzen said, and Itachi then entered the office, looking a bit apologetic.

"Sorry Hokage-sama, I was told to wait outside, so that is what I did, I just need to tell you that the mission was an absolute success, the target was eliminated, and in a way so it seems like suicide, like the mission demanded" Itachi stated, his voice cold, Naruto could tell he was a professional killer.

"Thanks Itachi, I will have the full report tomorrow instead, you go home and rest, chances are you might be needed again soon." Hiruzen stated, his voice commanding, it demanded respect, just what you would expect of a man used to commanding armies of ninja in an organized hidden village. Itachi left quickly, he had understood that the Hokage was busy, not that he enjoyed this village or anything like that, he'd rather be stuck anywhere else in this boring place, he couldn't even be at peace at his own home, his annoying little brother would always nag him about training, until he would give in just to shut the brat up.

"Now where was I? Oh that's right, when the cult resurfaced things were much worse than previously, the first ninja war had started, they attacked armies, and in some cases even destroyed whole armies, even though there were just a few of them. Jashin wasn't just standing by idly, he destroyed random ninja, by pulling their bones out of their bodies, it was a terrifying sight to behold. Suddenly someone would be lifted into the air over the battlefield and his bones would start to move and suddenly they would be ripped out of the body of the victim, the victim would then drop to the ground in a heap, usually dead, the only bones left in their body would be their spinal cord and their skull. After the first ninja war, Jashin stopped causing terror on battlefields for some reason, hundreds had been murdered this way, and it was unclear whether it was their god who did or it was some obscure jutsu, but no matter what it never happened again after the end of the first ninja war. The numbers of jashinists dropped drastically between the first and second ninja war, and they only involved themselves a little bit in the second war, I fought one during the second ninja war, a man who was rather powerful, not as powerful as the follower who attacked two weeks ago, but still he was a lot of trouble. That was the only jashinist I even heard of during the second war, and until the third ninja war they were silent as well, they didn't participate in the third war either, but now they're back, most likely it is a bad sign, but they seem to have some sort of purpose, you told me that the jashinist were looking for someone particular, maybe it was actually that man Jash he was looking for. In any case if there is going to be more trouble involving jashinists we are going to end up in a full scale war, against a religion, and hopefully it is a war we could win." Sarutobi Hiruzen explained. He stopped for a breath of air once again, also he stopped because it was a lot of information for the two children to take in.

"According to my information, the cult is still very small, and they hardly even interfere with ninja any more. Even so jashinists are out there somewhere, we know for a fact that members of Konoha had been hidden followers of Jashin, most have been prosecuted and executed, and it is strictly forbidden to serve Jashin if you are a citizen of Konoha. Which also brings up another problem, how did two of his servants slip through our strict patrolling, and ultimately entered the city where one of them murdered a member of the village. To me this is troubling, but at the same time I actually think that this is the last we've seen of the Jashinist who killed Asami." The old Hokage stated. "I think that is just about it, other than the fact that they all carry the same tri-bladed scythes, all members of the cult are very different. And besides the things I have told you, I have no more information about Jashin."

"Thanks, Hokage-sama" Naruto replied, he then looked to Hinata.

"Um, Hokage-sama, I was wondering if there is anything that can be done to stop a jashinist, I mean if I ever were to encounter one, who threatened my family, I would like to be able to save them." Hinata asked quietly, she was a bit afraid to ask this, mostly because she was afraid that it was impossible, after all what could one do to a person who is immortal.

"There is no simple answer to that question Hinata." Hiruzen said apologetically. "After all they are so very different, just the same as ninja from Konoha have different styles of combat, so do the jashinists. Some throw there scythe, others wield it in close combat, some do a combination of both. Others have even used ninja techniques or bloodline limits to deal with their enemies and cause them pain."

"Okay, so there is no other advice other than be prepared for anything, just like when fighting enemy ninja, the only difference is that there is a good chance that the jashinist are immortal." Hinata replied, hope failing her a bit, what if she met one again, if her mother couldn't take him on, how were she even supposed to last even a minute.

"I only have one piece of advice, don't let them draw blood. Supposedly they can use rituals that use blood, but I don't know anything about these rituals." Hiruzen said, as he got out of his chair and called Cat inside. "Now please return these two to their homes, it's getting late and I'm sure Hiashi is going to be worried, even though I informed him that she had some questions for me and that I would have her escorted back."

"Thanks for the help Hokage-sama!" Naruto and Hinata said as they left the office with Cat.

Left was only Sarutobi, he asked for the other elder councilmembers. His two old teammates and Danzo, now he had to see what information Anbu had helped them to dig out, the possible betrayal of the Uchiha clan was definitely a top priority subject. To Sarutobi this was important, and even though Danzo was often an annoying counterpart during council meeting, but one thing was certain, the safety of the village was as important to Danzo as it was for Sarutobi, their means of attaining it were just were different. Root had been disbanded long ago, and even though the organization had been against Konoha's premises, sometimes Sarutobi would miss having that in his backhand. They could easily deal with subjects like riots in moments, or even before they started, nipping away the dangerous poisonous flower while it was still nothing more than a bud. Unfortunately he understood that the riot that the Uchiha was planning, was no longer a bud, and diplomacy was hardly an option any longer. It saddened him, but that was how it was.

Itachi had revealed some of the plans for them, he had betrayed his clan. Unfortunately his betrayal to the clan had been discovered, but Itachi had prevented any damage by killing the one who had discovered. Unfortunately the one who discovered was Itachi's best friend Shisui Uchiha. Now they had to act, there was only two weeks until the academy school year ended, and Itachi had requested to leave his brother out of it, due to the fact that he did not know anything about the plan. The elders had agreed, though Danzo was skeptic due to the fact that he wasn't certain the young boy would stay loyal to the village once he found out what had really happened. Itachi had then offered to leave the village as a missing nin, and do the cruel task himself, also he had pointed out that someone without the sharingan was likely to lose if they went toe to toe with someone so proficient in its use like his father. In the end, they all had to agree, even though Sarutobi could tell that it bothered Danzo a lot that the ninja force would lose one of their best Anbu captains in a long time.

**About two weeks later, far outside Konoha.**

"So you're gonna go through with it?" A masked man replied, the orange mask face on his looked as if it spiraled out from the single visible eye, a glowing red sharingan.

"No doubt about it, though I think it's odd to leave my younger brother alive though, also killing off Shisui worked fine for me, I unlocked the mangekyou sharingan, just as you told me I would, and Jashin said he'd deal with any problems with my health that were to show because of the mangekyou." Itachi replied his voice cold and calculating and full of disgust when he mentioned his younger brother.

"Ha-ha you really hate that brat don't you, but the reason is because he wants you to use tsukuyomi on him it's a test to see which type of pain strengthens him the most, his theory is that mental pain is far better than physical, but even so he wants to know." The masked Uchiha replied.

"It's true what Tobi says, or should I call you by your real name Uchiha." A tall man stated, the man radiated power, on his back were two scythes, and his face was covered by a mask, with the design of a skeleton.

"Nah, Tobi is fine, I think I'm gonna keep that name, it's most likely gonna do me more good than my real name. So you don't mind the backstabbers dying, even though they would most likely cause a civil war?" Tobi asked, his voice had changed radically from when he spoke at first. Now it was much more light and playful in tone.

"I don't care for a civil war if I can reach more important goals. I need someone to spy on a small new organization, called Akatsuki, I want Itachi to be the one to do it after all deception is his forte and why not make good use of those skills." The tall man stated. The two Uchiha both knew who he was, Jashin, the god of pain and suffering and a liable ally of theirs. "By the way, how did you like my diversion, sending a servant of mine into the city to cause some trouble? I'd say it went pretty well, all focus was off the Uchiha for a moment, I'd reckon it will have made your job all the more easy."

"I figure that with my newfound power, I am going to be unstoppable anyway. Also the power is going to give me an excuse to kill every member of my clan, how do you like this." Itachi said, before assuming a face of a cold killer. "Why did I kill them, to test myself of course, foolish little brother."

The trio all laughed, Jashin cackled manically. Tobi's laugh came directly from his stomach, and it was rather high pitched compared to Jashin's laugh, thanks to the jutsu he used to change his voice. Itachi's laugh was far more contained than the other two, after they finished laughing a bit they looked at each other and then they took off in three different directions. Tomorrow would be a terrible day for Konoha, they would lose their police force as well as their most formidable Anbu captain, and no one would even begin to suspect who Itachi really had been working for.


End file.
